MAKARAANG magwagi sa kanyang unang laban sa welterweight division, kaagad hinamon ni dating interim WBC super lightweight champion Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse si eight division titlist Manny Pacquiao na idepensa sa kanya ang WBO 147 pounds title matapos ang pagsagupa kay Jeff Horn ng Australia.
Dalawang beses napabagsak bago napatigil sa 5th round ni Matthysse ang Amerikanong si Emmanuel “Tranzformer” Taylor nitong Mayo 6 sa Las Vegas, Nevada para matamo ang bakanteng WBA Inter-Continental at WBO International welterweight titles.
“I’ll have a big fight before the end of the year and I hope to get Manny Pacquiao for the world title. I was happy with the work that I did with my team, it came out as we planned it,” sabi ni Matthysse sa BoxingScene.com. “I thought it was going to be a bit more complicated, but when he started to feel my hands – it was all over, it’s a win that places me in the rankings. “
Ito ang unang laban ni Matthysse matapos mapatulog sa 10th round ng dating sparring partner ni Pacquiao na si Victor Postol para sa WBC super lightweight crown sa Carson, California noong Oktubre 3, 2015.
“Training in Trelew (Argentina) was very good and I added many weeks with Joel Diaz in California,” dagdag ni Matthysse. Now I expect a big fight to come out in September or October. My big goal is to fight for the world title with Manny Pacquiao.”
Bago natalo kay Postol, kabilang si Matthysse sa binanggit ni Top Rank big boss Bob Arum na posibleng lumaban kay Pacquiao at napunta ang oportunidad kay dating WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley na natalo sa 12-round unanimous decision kay Pacquiao noong Abril 9, 2016 sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
May rekord si Matthysse na 38-4-0, tampok ang 35 knockouts at inaasahang papasok siya sa world rankings ng WBA at WBA para sa buwan ng Mayo. (Gilbert Espeña)
